Directors Report....Business and Industry Partnerships
Valley STEM tour Humtown
9th grade STEM students had a great experience touring Humtown Additive this week all with the help of their very own peers, Sophia Elia and Taylor Perry. Humtown Additive is embarking on a new way of touring students through their facility led by their own fellow classmates. They are calling this experience “Through the Lens of My Friends.” Sophia and Taylor were selected to learn Humtown’s additive manufacturing process in order to teach their peers when they came to the facility.
Melanie Brock, English instructor at Valley STEM Academy said, “We are so grateful for Mr. Lamoncha and the rest of the team at Humtown for creating such a unique, hands-on learning experience for our students. It was really fulfilling to see the students practice their STEM skills in an authentic environment– they had the biggest smiles on their faces the entire time."
The MVMC hosted their monthly meeting at our school this past week with more than 50 local businesses and organizations in attendance. Dr. Banfield addressed the crowd about our newly renovated mobile lab that is available for career fairs, events, and school visits.
Mock Interviews
Ms. Sankey's junior and senior English classes have been working on preparing their job portfolios for the past 6 weeks. They were able to show off their skills with "mock interviews" with outside community members who took time out of their work schedules to conduct 15 minute in person interviews with each student. Students were dressed in their best to put the final touches on this project. They did outstanding and we have many students who are "job ready."
Connor Gifford -ICONS, Brian Boston -Machine
Zach Long- Global, Joshua Velazquez -ICONS, Joshua Velazquez- ICONS, Nathan Wilson -Global, Samantha Sorber -Arts, Destiny Richard -Global
Annual Advisory Dinner
Thank you to all of our advisory members, stakeholders, staff and administrators for attending our annual advisory dinner last week. More than 250 people attended the dinner in support of career tech education. Our school would not be as successful if it weren’t for all of them and all of their hard work and dedication. Thank you to all of the legislators who attended, especially Senator Michael Rulli who was our keynote speaker. A special thank you to our culinary instructors and students for the wonderful dinner!
Early Childhood Education
As the year winds down it's time for students to celebrate their achievements. Mrs. Pagnotta's Early Childhood Education students are finding out that their hard work over the past 2 years was worth it. Students are finding out this week and next if they have earned their CDA certification. (Child Development Associate) So far 10 out of 14 have gotten word of a successful passage. The rest should find out soon. Congratulations, your hard work is paying off!
Creative Arts & Design
Ms. Hackett's Creative Arts Juniors visited the Andy Warhol in Pittsburgh last week. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives from the Pittsburgh-born pop art icon. This was a great hands-on learning experience.
Aviation Maintenance
Mr. Rowe took his Aviation students on a field trip to United Airlines in Cleveland where they were able to meet former MCCTC Aviation student Ronnie Molinari for a personal tour. Students were able to sit in a 737 max aircraft and watch Ronnie complete a nozzle change on the aircraft.
Biomedical Science
Seniors in Mr. Miller's Biomedical program participated in a very cool lab this week where students investigated the various parts of the brain, its structure changes, and Autism. Students were able to describe the structure of the brain and how it changes during development, explain the role of the hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, and areas of the cortex, and understand the impact of autism on the brain.
Machine
Students in manufacturing designed and made tap handles. Students also worked together to design and construct a cutting board that was raffled to a student.
RAMTEC
Students in Mr. Moore’s lab gained experience in a variety of electrical systems. Students used a multimeter to test the total voltage on the earth battery, calculated voltage drops on a series circuit, and built series circuits.
Geometry
Students in Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Capan's Geometry classes applied their knowledge of trigonometry to real-world situations through the use of clinometers and altitude meters. After measuring distances and angles with these tools, students then used trigonometry to solve for the height of tall objects and analyze the pros and cons of each tool.
Adult Career Center
Adult Healthcare, Firefighting and EMT students have been busy working toward earning certifications.
Medical Assistant and Adult Diploma students are training in phlebotomy. Firefighter I, Firefighter II and EMT classes are blazing through hands-on skills, including Ventilation, Vitals, Hose Skills and VEIS (Vent Enter Isolate Search).
